Last week, after six years of detention in Iran, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe touched down on home soil in the UK. In a rare moment of joy in the news, we saw Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s emotional reunion at the airport with her seven-year-old daughter Gabriella and husband Richard Ratcliffe, who campaigned tirelessly for her release. Since then, the family have been catching up on all the simple pleasures of everyday life that have been off-limits during their terrible ordeal: cuddling, cooking dinner, and enjoying a cup of tea. 

Titled Nazanin, the documentary will give “exclusive access into one of biggest international news stories of the last six years” as it follows Ratcliffe and his family as they fight to bring Nazanin home.

The documentary from filmmaker and journalist Darius Bazargan will also reveal the “inner-workings” of the real-life drama through the eyes of Ratcliffe, who mounted a worldwide publicity campaign for his wife’s release, as well as his young daughter, Gabriella, who was 22 months old when her mother was imprisoned.

According to the broadcaster, the “intimate access” documentary will also feature never-before-seen material filmed by Nazanin herself while she was still detained in Iran.

An official synopsis provided by Channel 4 reads: “We see her young daughter Gabriella trying to cope with the separation from her mother. We see the stress on Richard as he tries to juggle a media and political campaign to free his wife and raise his daughter. We follow Richard as he realises his wife’s detention is deeply connected to the complicated and toxic diplomatic relationship between Britain and Iran and to an unpaid debt going back half a century.”

The documentary will also take a close look at the Ratcliffe family’s “final tense, dramatic days” during the negotiations between Iranian and UK officials over the price for Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s freedom, as well as her journey home and touchdown at at a British military airbase.

The British-Iranian dual national was arrested in 2016 in Tehran and imprisoned after being convicted of unspecified “national security-related” crimes. The trumped-up charges, which linked to her work at the BBC World Service Trust and Thomson Reuters Foundation, are believed to have been in direct response to a historical £400 million debt owed by the UK government to Iran, which has now been paid after years of complex negotiations. 

Last week, the MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, Tulip Siddiq, told the Guardian that it would take time for Zaghari-Ratcliffe to adjust to life in the UK after the trauma of what happened.

“Richard and Gabriella have both changed a lot in the last six years, and they want to get to know each other again and make up for lost time. She said she was going to stay low for a bit, but I am hoping that in time we will be able to host her in parliament to celebrate her freedom and the frankly inspiring work of her husband, Richard, and his family in campaigning for her release.”

At present, the family are staying in a safe house before they return home to north London.

The documentary is expected to air later this year on Channel 4. 

Images: Getty